CAMPAIGN UPDATE: The Essential Services Commission (ESC) handed down their decision to decrease the minimum feed-in tariff in Victoria by 20 per cent early on August 25. Now, it's more important than ever to sign the petition, calling on Energy Minister D'Ambrosio to intervene and stop the cuts before it's too late.

The Essential Services Commission (ESC), the State body that determines minimum feed-in tariffs for Victorian solar owners, has recommended a 20 per cent cut to the minimum feed-in tariff price. The recommendation is due to be decided in August and will mean that solar owners could get as little as 5 cents per KWH for energy exported to the grid by 2016*.

Victorian Solar owners have made the sensible decision to produce their own clean energy from the sun and deserve to be paid a fair price for power fed back to the grid. The Victorian Government has committed to a review determining what a fair price should be later this year, but this could be too little too late if the ESC feed-in tariff cuts get the green light next month as planned.

It is absolutely ridiculous to introduce cuts to our feed-in tariff before we know what a fair price for solar fed back into the grid should be. That’s why we're calling on Energy Minister D'Ambrosio to delay these changes until the results of the upcoming State Government review are available.

Will you sign the petition calling on Energy Minister D'Ambrosio to step in and delay these cuts until a fair price for solar can be determined?

Will you sign?

To Victorian Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio,

We call on you to step in and delay the Essential Services Commission's recommended 20 per cent cut to feed-in tariffs paid to Victorian households until a fair price for solar fed back into the grid is determined by the State Government's upcoming review.

Almost a quarter of a million Victorian solar households have made the sensible investment to generate clean energy from the sun on our rooftops. We deserve to be paid a fair price for the solar energy we feed back to the grid and early indications from experts suggest this price should be much higher than the ESC's recommendations.

Allowing these unfair cuts to go ahead before a fair feed-in tariff is determined is simply ludicrous - it punishes current solar owners and makes it more difficult for people to go solar. Minister Lily D'Ambrosio, will you stand up for Victorian solar owners and the future of Victorian rooftop solar?